Blooming Flowers
by Mitsuki81
Summary: Love is like a flower blooming inside someone chest. What a wonderful metaphor, that it until said flower became a deadly one as love choke you to death. [Hanahaki disease AU] [Haru x Baron]


**Hello! And welcome for my first work on the TCR fandom, yeah!**

 **So, Hanahaki disease AU... Err, if you're familiar with fandom, you're already aware of what this is, but as I discovered this stuff only a few weeks ago, I suppose some of you too don't know what this disease is.**

 **Basically, it's a fictional one where the ill have flowers blooming in their chest/lungs/heart when they suffer from 'unrequited love'. (I'll explain it a little more in the story, with a little variation of mine so I won't repeat myself here)**

 **So, disease means little depictation of blood, meaning the rating T! But don't worry, it's not very much (I'm still not really at ease with angst and all! x'))**

 **So, just a short little OS I hope you'll like!**

 **By the way, I'm not an English native (but a French one), so obviously, there will be a lot of mistakes in this! I used Grammarly for the most basics one, but as I don't pay for the app, there still a lot of them!**

 **So I ask for forgivness in advance for the blood you're going to cry while reading this! x')**

 **I'm not really at ease with 's beta service, so I would take any kind of help gladly! ^^'**

 **Still, I hope you're going to like this!**

 **Enjoy! o/**

* * *

It was in the middle of winter that Haru felt that her throat hurt a little.

« There, a cup of hot milk with a touch of honey should ease your discomfort » had said Baron, extending her a small cup of tea to her.

Taking the small porcelain between two fingers, she smiled down at him, « Thank you. » then after a few sips added, « I suppose I'll have to wear a thicker scarf for the next following days then ! » in a laugh, and the Cat figurine simply smiled in return.

In the background, they could hear Muta having a fight with Toto, and they shared a bored sigh at their antics.

Weeks flew by, but the pain in her throat didn't fade away. In fact, she even began to have coughing fits, but they were short and very spaced out from one to the other.

Nothing truly worrying at this point.

« What did the doctor say about your infection ? » asked Hiromi at her friend.

It was the beginning of February and both college students were sitting at their favorite café in Crossroad. The brunette absent mindedly scratched Muta's brown ear and shrugged, « He's as clueless as the other. But as it didn't become worse, he supposes that I should continue with the treatment. » she pulled a little more on her scarf, « I can only hope that it'll go away with the winter. »

Then, she coughed another time and, for a second, Haru felt something hard hitting her teeth and coming from her throat, but she didn't try to think too much about it.

This night, when another coughing attack seized her chest, she tried not to panic when two small seeds fall into her hands.

The seeds quickly disappeared inside the bin of her bathroom, and Haru tried to forget the incident.

The days went by and the seeds were still there. More and more of them. But it wasn't only that.

Haru always had good lungs and endurance (as she was used to running to school back to her teens years) but now, as she was doing her daily jogging, she had to stop after only five minutes, having difficulties to find her breathe.

This time, once the coughs faded away, there was a single petal in the palm of her hand.

She tried to convince herself that it was nothing, nothing at all, that she hadn't heard the stories of those who get this illness too, she tried to tell herself that she'll be fine, that it'll go away if she was patient enough.

But it didn't, it only worsened, and it was harder and harder for Haru to hide it to her Mother, to Hiromi and (especially) to Baron.

In truth, she didn't believe that she was truly ill until she coughed a dozen of orange petals in front of her doctor, the one in charge of her since the beginning of her 'throat infection', a little before the first day of March. She saw the exact moment he understood what was happening to her, by the way, his face dropped, his fist clenched on his desk, by the haunted look in his eyes…

« You contacted the Hanahaki's disease, miss. » he had said in a cool, professional voice, and Haru knew that she would die before the end of the year.

Hanahaki was a very rare illness that could be contracted when someone suffered from 'unrequited love'. A flower related to the one they loved (in one way or another) began to bloom inside the chest and the lungs, chocking the ill while they cough first seeds, then petals and flowers. Sometimes, the stem could pierce through the skin and the disease lead to a certain death if not cured.

There was two way to end it, for their love to be returned (and romantic love only), or with a surgical removal, but then, the feelings totally disappeared, and there was a strong possibility that the ill-one could never be able to love again if they went through the surgery.

He told her that she was still at a very early stage and that she could still act to preserve herself from a certain death.

But it was pointless, as she already made her decision long before she coughed the first seed.

Haru told him about it and with her doctor, wrote a letter she let to her doctor asked to deliver it to her family, in case that her case evolved for the worse.

When she went to the bureau later that day, she acted as if nothing was wrong, chatted with Toto, laughed to some Muta's jock and drank Baron's tea, one of his best batch, she had to said.

Then, came the moment she had to go, but instead of telling them 'see you next week', said

« I think it was the last time I would ever come to the Bureau. »

She saw the shock on their faces, the lack of understanding, and a storm of unreadable emotions behind Baron green eyes.

« Why ? » asked the Cat figurine, and the Human couldn't make eye contact with him.

« I think it's time for me to move on. » she lied, « And I can only hope that you'll understand. It was a real pleasure to meet you all. Goodbye, my friends. »

And before either of them had the time to say something to her, she turned on her heels and ran.

It was only when she was far away enough from the Bureau, in her apartment with her door locked and her shutters closed that she allowed the tears to fall, the coughs to come out in a very painful way.

Coughing was painful, but not as painful as the pain she felt in her heart, and breathing became more and more difficult to her.

Something was coming into her throat, and _it hurt so much!_

Finally, as another fit of coughs shook her whole body, an entire flower fall from her lips, along with some drops of blood tainting the bright orange petals of the rose. From her blurry vision, Haru also saw that the steam, as well as the leaves, were a deep mint green.

The brunette could have laugh at it if it weren't for her painful throat and the hot, bitter tears falling from her eyes.

oOoOoOoOo

Baron never thought that Haru would stop coming to the Bureau just like that.

Well, normally, she shouldn't have shown up after the whole cat Kingdom's incident in the first place but… She had found her way back to the Refuge, and since then (seven years, three months and fourteen days to be exact and no, Baron certainly not count the day, thank you very much), the human had become a sort of constant in their daily routine.

So having her telling them that she wouldn't come to the Bureau anymore was a shock.

« Now that I'm thinking about it, she was a little strange these past few weeks. Maybe she had found a sweetheart, » had said Muta, « She always had this sort of un-seeing look in her eyes. Maybe she wanted to consecrate herself to them now, and that she didn't need us anymore. Maybe it's time for her to truly grow up. »

It was a possibility that the Cat figurine had considered. And even if he was happy to know that Haru was moving on, growing up and making her way in life all by herself, the simple idea of a new someone in her life and heart made his chest twisted in a painful way.

The first few weeks, everything seemed to fall back into the old routine of the Bureau, from their time before Haru.

Yes, there was something a little amiss about the situation, but the three of them thought that it was okay, that it'll be okay.

Then, Baron began to cough too.

First, it was time to time, when he was thinking of Haru. But as the time went by, they transformed into some kind of 'fits', worrying Toto and Muta a lot as Creation like Baron shouldn't fell ill, and the Cat figurine was very aware of this fact. But the thing was that he had caught something.

It was a strange feeling for him to feel his chest twisted and hurt from lack of air until a single seed fell from his mouth. For a long time, he looked at it without registering what he saw.

The gasp he heard coming from Toto and Muta was all he needed. Still, he clenched his fist on it and threw the seed away in the nearest bin.

« Baron, you… »

« It's fine. »

« But- ! »

« I told you It's _fine_. I won't die because I can't, okay? It's just going to be a little problematic for a while, but I can assure I will be fine. » he sighed, « Just… Can you give me a moment alone, please? »

Muta and Toto shared one worried look before nodding and exiting the Bureau. From his window, Baron could that they left the Refuge too.

Coughing a few more times, other seeds fell into his hand, and a hollow laugh escaped him.

Of course, he was in love with Haru for years now. Yes, it was a simple friendship he felt for her in the beginning, but as they grew closer and closer each time they meet, this friendship bloomed into something new.

Still, seeing that his love for the human literally bloomed into flowers inside his chest was a little destabilizing.

For a second, he remembered Louise, and how her own love for someone else had bloomed too into the purest white lilies he had ever seen. And even if both cat creations were normally meant to be together, Baron had been more than happy than letting her go with her true love, wishing them the best.

With a small, bitter smile, Baron wondered what kind of flower his unrequited love for Haru would be. Then, another fit of coughts seized his chest, alongside with tears falling from his eyes.

oOoOoOoOo

Hiromi was truly worried for her friend.

When she saw that Haru fell ill in December, she dismissed it as a usual winter illness.

But the coughing fits never lessened, and each time she heard her dear friend harsh, painful coughs, it worried the light brunette a little more.

At some point, Haru began to use tissues to cough in, quickly throwing them out in a bin as soon she had finished. She saw how the illness made her best friend weaker and weaker as the months flew by, how she always kept her scarf around her throat even with the soft weather of early May.

Once, she heard girls of her uni saying that they had found some blood-stained petals in a bin of one of the bathrooms.

« If Haru had really caught Hanahaki, why wouldn't she talk of it to you ? » had asked Tsuge, her boyfriend, when she told him of her worries

« I don't know. For sure, if it's an unrequited love, it's not the silly crush she had on Machida back in high school. But I don't know any guys in Haru's entourage she could have feelings for. »

Her boyfriend kissed her on the temple, « It's okay, baby. I'm sure of it. Plus, there's no proof that the petals those girls had found are Haru's. »

« … You're right… » said eventually Hiromi, « You're right. Haru's fine and I worry too much about it. »

How wrong she was.

It was a little after the final exams. Both friends were going out to watch the latest movie release of on her their favorite director until Haru began to cough.

But, unlike the other times, this one was pretty violent, and the brunette was having difficulties to simply breathe, her fingers trying to hide her mouth as blood and petals, a lot of petals fell from it.

Seeing that the scarf around her throat was one thing that prevented to breathe correctly (on top of all the Hanahaki disease, that it), Hiromi untied it as her best friend was struggling with more and more petals. Then she saw the state of her throat, and Hiromi's blood froze in her veins.

There were thorns, a dozen of small pics piercing through the thin, white skin of Harus neck, green stems and leaves tainted with blood.

And as realization fell upon Hiromi, Haru was still coughing more and more petals, and three (or maybe four ? She wasn't sure) fully bloomed orange roses fell from her lips.

Someone had called the emergency as Hiromi tried to help her best friend, to appease the best she could her pain as she realized that without a surgery, her best friend wouldn't live until the end of the week.

When the brunette was put upon a stretcher, Hiromi was murmuring appeasing words, saying that everything's going to be alright, that they'll remove the flowers from her lungs, that she'd live through this experience.

But Haru looked at her with glossy, unseeing eyes, her lips mouthing a « no… » and Hiromi didn't understand.

It was a few hours later when her state was stabilized when the doctor in charge of her treatment since the beginning broke the new to Haru's mother and her that she did.

He showed them the letter Haru had written saying that she didn't want to be cured, that she knew what was happening to her since a very long time, how much she loved them, that she didn't want to leave them but that her mind was already made.

 _« Because I prefer dying out of love than living without him in my life. »_

Tears were falling from her eyes as she heard Ms. Yoshioka cried helplessly knowing that her daughter was ready to die, even at a very young age.

Hiromi stayed by her best friend side for two days after that, looking at the movement of Haru's chest as she struggled to breathe, coughing time to time in her breathing mask, only leaving the hospital when the visit hours were finished, when Ms. Yoshioka needed to be alone with her daughter, or simply when she couldn't bear seeing her childhood friend in this state.

Fortunately, Tsuge was with her when she broke down crying the night at the simple idea of her best friend leaving her for good.

If I ever found the guy that makes Haru suffers this much, I'm going to punch so hard that in the face that he wouldn't be able to understand what is happening to him!

Four days after Haru's admission to the hospital, Hiromi found herself all alone in Haru and her's favorite cafe, a cup of cooling coffee in front of her as she twirled an orange rose between her fingers.

One of the rose that Haru was coughing.

Frowning, she tried to understand the meaning of it. She knew that orange rose meant a friendship blooming into love, but the deep color of the petals and the steam weren't that common, and Hiromi wondered if it weren't clues about Haru's unrequited lover.

The love that doomed her.

Hot tears escaped her eyes, and Hiromi angrily wiped them away.

There was a 'meow', and the light brunette saw the big, fat, cream cat, that Haru had befriended with, looking up at her with a strange expression.

If she didn't know better, she could have sworn she read worry in his black eyes.

Bending a little, she scratched his ears, « You're Muta, right ? » she murmured before sighing, « If you're looking for Haru, I'm sorry but she's not here… » she paused, « … And she won't be able to show up here anymore… » she added eventually, her voice dropping a little.

She felt the cat rubbing against her legs, still mewing at her as if he was trying to tell to continue with her explanation.

« She's ill… » she murmured, and new tears came to her eyes, « She's ill and she's going to die in a few days, maybe even tonight for all we know… » she sobbed, and she felt the cat stiffened at her words.

For a few moments, there was a long silence, then she heard a voice murmuring, « Baron has to know about this… »

Looking up quickly, Hiromi blinked several times, « Who…? »

« Follow me. »

It was the cat. It was this freaking giant cat who just talked to her.

If it weren't for the dire situation, Hiromi would have freaked out, but Muta dashed away before she had the time to register what was happening.

« Hey, wait ! » she cried after him, sending her bag on her right shoulder, her left hand still clinging the rose as she followed the cat in a mad race.

She had to climb some walls, rooftops, and catwalks, and for a second, Hiromi considered the eventually of her losing her mind because of the fear of losing her best friend.

Then, she turned at the corner of a house and saw an archway. Behind it, Muta was standing on his hind legs, walking toward a very certain small house.

Hiromi tried to not overthink the situation (because if shed id, she was certain that she would fell unconscious) and made her way toward the archway. She passe dit just in time to hear the giant cat said

« Get out of here Baron! Chicky's in trouble and I brought one of her friends! No time for showing off! »

The sun was declining and there was a small flicker of light behind the small house windows. Then there was footstep, and a little figure dressed like a gentleman walked out of the doors of the mansion.

Too shocked, Hiromi was barely aware of the animated stone crow flapping hi swings behind her as she fell to her knees.

« You… You…! »

The cat figurine brought his hat to her chest, « My name is Baron Humbert von Gikkingen. » then putting his hat back into place added, « I'm sorry but I'll be quick. Muta said that Miss Haru was in trouble, can you tell me more about it? »

« She's… Wait a second, you know Haru ?! » asked in disbelief Hiromi, and the ginger cat had a small smile

« We helped her from a dire situation a few years back, and since then we, ah, sort of keep touch with her, that it, until she decided to stop coming here a few months ago. » he stopped to cough a little, and Hiromi frowned, as it sounded horribly familiar to her ears, « But that's not the point. What's the problem with Haru? »

The human took a deep breath, « A few months ago, Haru fell ill, but she didn't talk about to anyone. »

« We were aware of this fact. I suppose it's worse than it appeared? »

She nodded numbly, « Yes, she… four days ago, she had a very violent seizure and had to be hospitalized… She contracted Hanahaki… »

There was a long silence. The cat figurine looked up at her with shock as Muta and the crow gaped openly at her. Hiromi felt shivered as new tears came to her eyes.

« Do you… Have any idea of who this person is… ? » he eventually asked, and Hiromi shook her head

« No, the only clue I have is this rose… » saying this, she showed him the flower she still had in her hand.

Baron openly gaped at the flower, and Hiromi could read realization in his eyes before the cat figurine was seized by a violent coughing fit, worrying the human as she saw several pink petals fell from his mouth.

 _No way, him too ?!_ she thought alarmed until she saw what kind of flower it was.

Pink peony, Haru's favorite.

The human frown grew a little bigger. Why would this cat (? Figurine ? Baron ? Whatever !) cough these flowers? And why his fur remind her of-

 _Oh_.

The rose was the same color as the Baron's fur and the leaves as green as his eyes.

Haru managed to fell in love with a cat figurine who loved her back without being aware of it, and her pain transformed into Hanahaki.

If it weren't for the dramatic situation, Hiromi could have laugh.

Finally, the Baron stopped coughing, still shaking of the violent fit as he was surrounded with bright pink petals and flowers.

At this moment, the figurine knew that his own Hanahaki had just been healed.

« So it's you… » she finally murmured, and Baron looked up at her, a sad look in his eyes.

« I suppose so. » he finally said, « When Haru told us that she wouldn't be coming to the Bureau anymore, we all assumed that she was moving on with her life, that she found someone to live with from now, not that she was ill… »

« She didn't want for you to see her ill. Or to blame yourself about her being ill because you didn't love her back. » added Hiromi, « But she was wrong, wasn't she ? » the human pointed at the flower at Baron's feet, « Those are Haru's favorite, so I suppose I'm right in guessing that you have feelings for her too. »

Baron looked down at his feet, « You're right. Maybe if I had been more open about them, then maybe Haru wouldn't have contracted Hanahaki in the beginning. »

« Only a fool can love a fool… » murmured Hiromi before smiling as she realized something, « But it's not too late! You can still go see her and tell Haru about your feelings! »

« Wait, what ?! No, I- no…! »

The human frowned, « Why ? » and the Cat figurine sighed,

« Because look at me. I'm an immortal figure, and she a human, how could we make things work-? »

« I CAN'T BELIEVE IT ! » yelled Hiromi at the figurine, « My best friend's life is on the line, and all you can think about is about the barriers ?! Let's worry about it later, once Haru is cured, because I swear it right here and right now » she gave the figurine the most intimidating look she could do at this moment, « If Haru dies because you didn't confess your love to her, immortal or not, I swear that I'll be the one sending you straight to hell with my own hands, even if I have to drag you all the way down there. »

Baron held her gaze, then nodded, « Well, I suppose we don't have a second to lose, am I right? »

oOoOoOoOo

When Hiromi came to the hospital, the visit hours had just finished. But it didn't stop her from her objective.

Avoiding the nurses and doctors trying to stop her, she ran through the hospital straight into Haru's room, closing and locking the door behind her as soon as she put a foot inside it.

From the bed, Haru raised her head in surprise, « Hiromi, what are you- ? » then coughed in a painful way, and petals flew into her breathing mask. The light brunette quickly discards them away from Haru's face before dropping her bag on her best friend bed.

Outside, both humans could hear the nurses trying to open the door.

« No time to talk, there's someone you need to talk to. »

Haru frowned, but then, a look of pure surprised appeared on her face as a very familiar figure stepped out of Hiromi's bag.

« B-Baron ?! » she gasped, and it took her all her will to not cough at the sudden rush of adrenalin.

« Hello, Haru. » he smiled up to her before some guilt appeared inside his deep green eyes, « I'm sorry for what's happening to you, and I know why you have contracted Hanahaki…»

The human smiled weakly, « Don't worry. If I didn't tell you in the first place was because I didn't want to bother you with my condition. Still, I- » she coughed harshly, a more stainted-petals fell from her mouth, « Still I'm happy to have the chance to see you one last time. »

There were tears falling from her eyes, and Baron put one hand against her cheek, trying to wipe them away.

« No Haru. You don't have to be so gloomy. In fact I… The truth is that... » Baron closed his eyes as words failed him.

« What is it, Baron? » Haru looked concerned, « Is there something that you're not telling me? »

The figurine looked straight into her, « Haru, I… ! … There's something you need to see. » then, pulling something out of his pocket, he showed it to the ill human girl.

(In the background, they could hear the doctors forcing the door open)

With trembling fingers, Haru took the little pink peony that Baron held to her, then her eyes went from the flower to him when she spotted a small drop of blood in the petals.

« Baron… ? » she squeaked in a breathless voice, and the cat figurine shyly nodded, avoiding her gaze.

« Yes, Haru. I love you too. »

Tears gathered at her eyes for a second as a smile bloomed upon her face. The coughs come, worse than ever before, and the human had to tear off the breathing mask out of her face to let all the petals and flowers to fall from her lips to her bed as she shivered and shook from the violent fit.

In the meantime, the nurses and doctors had found a way to break the door and stepping inside the room.

Flower and petals were flying everywhere, and Baron had to hide in Hiromi's bag to avoid being spotted by the other humans. Still, he gave a comforting pat on his beloved hand, a silent promise to find a way to make things work for both of them.

Finally, _finally_ !, Haru stopped coughing. The petals and flowers stopped from coming out of her lungs and for the first time in a while, Haru took a deep breath.

And laughed in delight.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading this far! :D I hope you'll like this!**

 **Please, leave a review, something sweet/a critic/advice to help myself to improve! Or even negative stuff if it's constructive one! x) Any kind of comment will help me to improve my future writings!**

 **Still, thank you for reading this OS! I don't know when I'll write something else for the TCR fandom, but until then, have a good day!**

 **Mitsuki**


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